Oct. 22--Exhilarated Mets fans who had traveled to watch their team sweep the Cubs in the NLCS Wednesday, serenaded their players with chants and screams well past midnight behind the Wrigley Field visitors' dugout.
Daniel Murphy, the MVP of the series, meanwhile graciously went out of his way to salute both the Mets fans and Cubs fans.
"The fans have been awesome from the first game we played the Dodgers (in the NLDS) at our place, to the first two games of this series," Murphy said.
"I also want to commend the Chicago Cubs fans. They waited for their ballclub to come back out and gave them an ovation that they rightly deserved. That's a great club over there. They had a great year, and their future is really, really bright."
Mets manager Terry Collins also praised the Cubs organization and manager Joe Maddon, a long-time friend, calling him "the best manager in the game."
But the 66-year-old Collins especially enjoyed sharing the pennant-winning moment with his players and coaches.
"I'm sitting there or I'm standing there in the dugout in the ninth inning and I'm looking around the field and looking down in the dugout, and I'm just looking at all the guys, thinking how did they do it?" Collins said. "How did they keep it together? How did they stay focused?
"And I looked at the coaching staff. I'm so happy for the job they did. I mean, there were some tremendous peaks and some big, deep valleys, and to be able to keep those guys motivated and keep them level headed through the whole season takes a lot of work. And my coaching staff, the veterans did a tremendous job, and I just sat there and said, 'Wow, this might be the finest group of guys I've ever been around.'"
In the midst of the celebration, Maddon extended a hand to congratulate Collins.
"He just met me in the hallway, which if you know Joe Maddon, you expect nothing less. I knew he was going to be somewhere. I knew one thing, he would not leave tonight without shaking my hand because he's a pro," Collins said.
"He is ... deserves any accolade anybody talks about him. He's not just calming, he's extremely intelligent. He runs a great game."
